An Allegheny County man is suing two Pittsburgh police officers in federal court, claiming they misidentified him, arrested him for an assault without probable cause and violated his constitutional rights.
Chiyeh Green, 22, alleges he was wrongfully held in jail for six days despite being on probation and wearing a location-tracking electronic ankle monitor.
Green’s ankle monitor showed he was at home at the time of the incident, making it impossible for him to have committed the crime, according to the complaint.
The lawsuit, filed against Officers Brian Shelton and Joseph Giles, stems from a July 20 assault on Sydney Street in Pittsburgh’s South Side that was livestreamed on Facebook.
Shelton reviewed video evidence that showed the victim being assaulted by a man and woman, according to the suit.
The victim, who is not named, knew the woman and gave officers her name, the suit said.
He told police the man was the father of the woman’s children, according to court paperwork filed by Shelton, the lawsuit said.
The victim gave police an image of a Facebook profile for “Sly Green,” which showed a Black man who Shelton wrote “matched” the perpetrator in the video, the lawsuit said.
At that point, a Pittsburgh detective called Shelton and told him Giles had learned of the video and identified the male attacker as Green.
Green was charged on July 24.
Shelton and several other officers arrived at Green’s house on July 24, 2025, to arrest him. The lawsuit said that Green’s probation officer also arrived at the home and informed Shelton and the other officers that Green was on house arrest with an electronic monitor.
His home, according to the lawsuit, is five miles from where the attack occurred.
The lawsuit also alleged video evidence of the attack “clearly depicts a different individual who does not resemble” Green committing the crime.
“The only identifiable similarity between the male perpetrator depicted in the video evidence and the plaintiff (Green) is their race and/or skin color,” the lawsuit said.
The lawsuit said Shelton did not include in his affidavit of probable cause that Green was on probation and wearing an electronic home monitoring ankle brace at the time of the incident.
“Shelton conducted a constitutionally deficient investigation by willfully and/or with reckless disregard ignoring exculpatory evidence as well as reasonably discoverable exculpatory evidence,” the lawsuit said.
The lawsuit said the incident caused Green fright, horror, shock, emotional trauma and suffering as well as economic damages.
Green’s suit includes claims of malicious prosecution, false arrest, false imprisonment, equal protection violations and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
In October 2025, Green pleaded guilty to a felony gun charge and a misdemeanor drug possession charge from a separate incident.
He was jailed for just under three years before being released on probation, during which he was required to wear an electronic monitoring anklet for five months, according to court records.
When Green was arrested again in July, he was still being monitored.
Green was held at the Allegheny County Jail for six days before the charges were dismissed at a bond hearing on July 30.
“Mr. Green was falsely accused of a crime he clearly did not commit,” said Amanda Shields, one of Green’s attorneys. “We look forward to seeking justice.”
Eliza Durham, a Pittsburgh police spokeswoman, said the bureau does not comment on pending litigation.
